At the closing ceremony of the FAES Summer Course 16th edition “Never before as today politics seems less relevant, which contrasts with the expectations of the ‘new politics’”

05/07/2019

_ “It used to be said that agreement culture would be promoted, but never as today appeals for general interests have been less echoed, nor have been institutions less taken care of”

_ “A regenerating fragmentation that would end bipartidism was promised, but the truth is that it is not getting rebuilt with enough agreements”

_ “Regardless of the moderated positions, most common among the electorate, there is higher levels of radicalism, never known before in our political system”

_ “In this non-regenerating fragmentation, nationalism has become radicalised and it has obtained an unprecedented decision power”

_ “The electoral fragmentation has flourished, but it has not centrifugated to the extreme poles all the parties’ model”

_ “The left is working to regularise the presence in the political life of options that might be legal but are inacceptable from a democratic point of view”

_ He believes it is necessary “to rely on an institutional and political system that provides the performance the Spanish society needs”

CATALUÑA _ “The institutional system has performed according to what it could be expected from it”

_ “There is not a one-way breakup road for Cataluña” nor “there is room in Europe for a secessionist process as the one planned by the Catalan independentism”

_ “Catalonia should think about its possibilities to become bigger as it has performed within a constitutional, democratic, European Spain”

_ He appeals the Catalan society: “what is at stake in Catalonia is not independence but the existence of a plural and democratic society”

_ “I’m talking about a society, not about a nationalism theme park, which is supported by activists’ coercions and cheered by sectarian media”

_ “Nationalism in Europe is today a post-modern version of totalitarianism which is dangerous and threats the Continent’s peace and prosperity values”

REFORMS _ He claims for a reforms agenda now neutralised by the “political and institutional inaction”

_ “To lead is to promote change and, in democracy, to change is to reform”

The former president of Spain and president of FAES Foundation, José María Aznar, has claimed today that “never before as today in our democratic trajectory politics seems less relevant or, if preferred, less productive. This reality highly contrasts the expectations created by the called ‘new politics’”. “It used to be said -he has added- that agreement culture would be promoted, but never as today appeals for general interests have been less echoed, nor have been institutions less taken care of”. In his opinion, “regardless of the moderated positions, most common among the electorate, there is higher levels of radicalism, never known before in our political system”.

In this sense, he has highlighted that, regardless of what was promised “in this non-regenerating fragmentation, nationalism has become radicalised and it has obtained an unprecedented decision power situation”. José María Aznar has made these claims today in the closing ceremony of the FAES Summer Course, where he has felt sorry about that, in this context, the left still works to regularise the existence in the Spanish political life of options that “might be legal but are inacceptable from a democratic point of view. I am talking not only about those who do not condemn terrorism but also about those who justify it and legitimate it as a necessary historical violence”.

For Aznar, “the majority of the Spaniards are still grounded on quiet positions of civil harmony. The electoral fragmentation has flourished, it cannot be denied, but it has not -as it has happened in other countries- centrifugated to the extreme poles all the parties’ model”. Thus, it is necessary, to “bring back a society of opportunities to assure a welfare model with economic rationality, solidarity and personal responsibility”. And, in order to do so, we need “to rely on an institutional and political system that provides the performance the Spanish society needs”.

APPEALING THE CATALAN SOCIETYJosé María Aznar has dedicated a part of speech to the Catalan situation, to state that the institutional system has accomplished with what could be expected from it: “it has provided the means to reassure what the rule of law means” and how those instruments must be serving a concrete political strategy constant in time. According to what he has highlighted, “there is not a one-way breakup road for Cataluña”, in order to remind that there is no room in Europe for a secessionist process as the one planned by the Catalan independentism.

Therefore, “rather than the risk of becoming smaller, Catalonia should think about its possibilities to become bigger as it has performed within a constitutional, democratic, European Spain”. Thus, it has appealed the Catalan society, because what is at stake is not the independence but the “existence of a plural and democratic society worth that name”. “I’m talking about a society, not about a nationalism theme park, which is supported by activists’ coercions and cheered by sectarian media”, he has clearly asserted. “That is not a society, nor it can be a growing economy. It is another thing. Thus, nationalism in Europe is today a post-modern version of totalitarianism which is dangerous and threats the Continent’s peace and prosperity values out of which it was built”, he has concluded.

A REFORMS AGENDAApart from the need for re-establishing a realistic government formula “from the Constitution, politics and the civil society, the threats to our unity”, Aznar considers essential “to face already the reforms agenda now neutralised by the “political and institutional inaction”. This is how he has reiterated that the inertia -whatever good they might be- finish, and it is his impression that “we know quite well that we have to do but not so much how to get it done”. “To lead -he has claimed- is to promote change and in democracy to change is to reform. To lead is to call everyone and to join intentions. Spaniards we have done this; we know how to do it, but we need a serious and convincing option”.

With this Course, that finishes today, he has said that “FAES has accomplished his commitment to develop ideas to contrast them and debate them, to criticise them or affirm them, in an exercise of debating close to the Spanish and European reality”.

Cookies Policy

We use our own and third-party cookies to improve our services and show you advertising related to your preferences by analyzing your browsing habits. If you go on surfing, we will consider you accepting its use. You can change the settings or get more information here